The Victory Tour
by AngelicFiend
Summary: AU Haymitch/Katniss A boy Katniss didn't even know from the merchant class was reaped instead of Peeta and died at the Cornucopia. Katniss was the lone victor of the 74th Hunger Games. Because of this, the rebellion never happens and Katniss is left to live her life virtually as her own. In the 1st book and movie we can all see the subtle chemistry between Katniss and Haymitch.
1. Part I

**Part I**

* * *

I sat at the back porch polishing one of my hunting boots. When forced to take up a hobby by the Capitol, I had naturally chosen hunting. Now they weren't going to let me off into the woods, but what harm was their in honing my 'natural' skills with a bow and arrow on a range right? Not that I was going to complain if they built me an archery range. Gave me something to do when it was too cold to sneak into the forest. If I even had any time for that anymore. When I wasn't walking around half asleep all day from my sleepless nights, I was being primped and pampered by my prep team for one interview or another. Today is the day I leave for the Victory Tour. How can I face the parents of the children I killed. How could I face Rue's family. And weeks alone with Haymitch? I wish I could pass.

Haymitch had become insufferable since I won.

"_Don't know how you did it Sweetheart. Cold Ditzy Bitch is gonna be the latest trend in the Capitol."_

"_Next years Games are gonna be even more unbearable with you as a mentor as well. Your advice will be to shoot the damn Gamemakers."_

Haymitch be damned.

I finished polishing my boot and sat back admiring my work. I was doing everything I could to take my mind off the fact that soon a car would come collect me to take me to the train. But I was slowly running out of things to do. So I waited.

Soon Haymitch was sitting on the porch with me. He sat there in silence. We had nothing to say, so we said nothing. That's one thing I did like about Haymitch. No awkward silences.

About a minute before the car was meant to arrive, he finally spoke. "If I can give you one word of advice as your mentor for your Victory Tour; it's don't take anything the districts say to heart. Its human instinct to survive. You were the best out of a bad bunch."

I nod. Well that was the closest to a compliment I had ever received from him.

The car pulls into my useless driveway. Even with my victors money, I couldn't afford a car. Even if I did want one. Which for clarity's sake, I didn't.

Haymitch and I both sat in the back of the car in silence as the peacekeeper drove us to the station. There at the platform was the sleek Capitol train all shiny steel and artificial curves. It made me think more about what I had been through the most. More than the dreams, more than the 'fan' letters I received from the Capitol's elite. This reminded me that my childhood was stolen. I might have survived. But I was no longer an innocent child. I was a murderer.

I boarded the train and stalked straight to my room. The first district I was to visit was District 11. I felt a knot in my stomach. The first people I'll face are Rue's family.

I lay on the bed trying to blank my mind. Naturally it didn't work. All I could think of was the song I sung to Rue as she took her final breath, wreathed in flowers.

"Deep in the meadow, under the willow  
A bed of grass, a soft green pillow  
Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes  
And when again they open, the sun will rise.  
Here it's safe, here it's warm  
Here the daisies guard you from every harm  
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true  
Here is the place where I love you.  
Deep in the meadow, hidden far away  
A cloak of leaves, a moonbeam ray  
Forget your woes and let your troubles lay  
And when again it's morning, they'll wash away.  
Here it's safe, here it's warm  
Here the daisies guard you from every harm  
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true  
Here is the place where I love you."

I feel tears roll down my face, but I ignore them. They are of no importance. What is important is freedom. Maybe I should run away with Gale. We could go in the spring. Take our families. Perhaps there is more out there.

As my thoughts roll through my head I somehow manage to fall asleep.

When I open my eyes, I see my prep team whispering to one another.

"Do we wake her?" Venia says quietly. "She looks so adorable there curled up in a little ball."

"We should. I mean look at the state of her eyebrows! She would be so embarrassed to be seen in public with how disorderly they are." Octavia replied. Her green skin looking pale.

"Of course we do. Imagine how Effie would react if we let Katniss be seen like this?" Flavius remarked, walking towards me. I sit up before he has a chance to shake me awake. "Its okay." I smile at them. I get out of bed and let them wax and pluck me. They left my make – up 'Natural' which really meant they didn't use any garish colors. Finally they deemed me presentable enough for Cinna.

A minute or so after they left, Cinna entered. He had changed very little since I had last seen him, short cropped hair and a little gold eyeliner.

"Well Katniss, how are things?"

I shrug. "As good as can be expected, I suppose. Dealing with the usual Capital enforced tours." Other than Gale, Cinna was the only person I could be myself with. Like the first time I met him, I noticed his accent. It wasn't quite... _Capitol_.

"Cinna, I have meant to ask... where did you come from? You don't seem like you were from the Capitol."

Cinna smiled indulgently at her as he opened up a suitcase he had brought with him. "You are right, as usual. I'm not from the Capitol. I was born and raised in District 1. My father was a jeweler and my mother a furrier. They were my inspiration to get into fashion. I was very lucky. When I turned eighteen, I was at design school at the time, someone came from the Capitol looking for someone who would do well in their fashion school. As I wanted to follow in my mothers footsteps, naturally I was designing clothes already. I was an obvious choice."

I gave him an incredulous look when he said he was lucky. How could someone be lucky to go live in the Capitol? It seemed like it was worse than living in the Seam. As usual, Cinna read my mind.

"I say lucky, because once I finished design school, I would have been in the mines until my mother died. A child can not open a fresh business while their parent is still alive that runs the same business. My mother was very stubborn and refused to let anyone help her in her designs. It was the Capitol or the Pit."

I nod in understanding. I suppose if I had to choose between the Capitol or working in the coal mines, I would have taken the Capitol.

I look at the outfit Cinna has made for me. It looked not much different to what I wore right now. Dark flannel pants, a copper colored top and leather boots.

"I want the districts to see Katniss. Not the 74th Hunger Games victor. If they see you as you, there might be less animosity towards you."

That made sense. I put on the clothes as Cinna undoes the elaborate 'do the prep team had put me in and braids my hair like I normally wear it. I notice on close inspection the fabric is cut and sewn to flatter my figure, giving me more curves, yet still making me seem like myself.

"Thank you Cinna, I love it."

"I knew you would. That's why I made it for you." He smiles at me then leaves the room. I wait for a few minutes then leave my room as well. We were about half an hour away from District 11 and I could feel my heart beating in my chest. I walked into the dining cart of the train and Effie and Haymitch were already at the table. Haymitch was sipping a cup of tea, a sour look on his face,, while Effie just looked exasperated.

"Nice of you to finally join us, Sweetheart." Haymitch hissed out.

"Don't mind him. He has decided to go sober for the victory tour." Effie said in her usually bright voice. "Well we have big big big day ahead of us, so I recommend you eat fast, we will be in District 11 soon."

I nod and take a bit of buttered toast, absentmindedly chewing on it while I thought of what to say to the people of District 11. _I'm sorry for your loss_ just didn't seem to cut it for me.

We slowly pull into the station and are driven straight to the Justice building. We were brought to a back entrance. And walked out the car. Effie was in a panic because we were five minutes late through no ones fault. She rushed us to the main door and we stood in silence until the doors were opened. I didn't expect cheers of greeting but the dead silence was deafening. I hear my own footsteps as I walk out onto the stage. I had expected someone else to speak before me, but I was obviously wrong. Effie clears her throat and gives me a very directed look. _"Speak."_


	2. Part II

**Part II**

* * *

I look into the crowd and stay silent for a moment. I try my best not to look into the front row where Rue and Thresh's families sit, tears rolling down their faces. Finally I open my mouth.

"I wont say sorry. Sorry wont bring back the lives that were taken. Sorry wont change a thing. I will say that I cared very much for the tributes from your district.

"Thresh. He could have killed me if he had of wanted to." I look down to Thresh's family. The Small older woman had tears running down her face and looked at me with a mixture of hatred and pity. I didn't blame her. The young woman looked like she might have been Thresh's sister. I felt like I was back in the arena for a moment. She looked like she would kill me. I continued anyway. "I will always be grateful to Thresh. And If I could have died before him, I would have. He deserved to win more than me."

I look across now to Rue's family and a lump forms in my throat. It takes a minute for me to speak. "Rue was so special to me. She was so much like my own little sister it almost scared me. Since her death I have wished so many times that I could take her place. She should have lived longer... should have-" I cant speak anymore, tears stream down my face. I raise three fingers to my lips and hold them out first to Rue's family, then Thresh's. "Thank you for the bread." I say in almost a whisper that wouldn't have even been heard if it wasn't for the microphone over my head. I rush back into the Justice building to Haymitch and Effie giving me incredulous looks.

I ran until I reached the car. The driver was outside smoking a cigar. He ignored me as I climbed into the backseat and collapsed into tears, my whole body shaking with sobs. Several minutes later Effie and Haymitch climbed into the car, Effie in the front, Haymitch next to me. Haymitch put an arm around me and I lay my head on his chest crying into his shirt. This is the closest I have ever felt to Haymitch. "I know how you feel right about now Sweetheart." He whispered, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear.

I stay silent the whole trip back to the train. I had stopped crying but stayed in Haymitch's arms. His embrace brought comfort to me. Haymitch was the only one in the world who knew how it felt. Every victor I have seen on T.V is proud to be a murderer. But it just made me feel empty.

When we finally arrive back at the station I jump out of the car without saying a word. I walk straight onto the train and into my cabin. I fall onto the bed feeling weak, broken. A few moments later I hear the door open. The end of the bed shifts. I look up and see Haymitch sitting there, a pained look on his face.

"It doesn't get better, Sweetheart. The pain, it doesn't go away. The nightmares will always haunt you. The Hunger Games isn't how the Capitol lets us know we will never be free. The Victors that are sent home are. We get a 'cushy' life because even they know it is impossible to live in places like the Seam and deal with the shit they give us."

I move over to him and lay my head on his lap. Haymitch's games were horrendous. He won by dumb luck. A few moments off being the looser. I remember my mother telling me about Haymitch's games. How his stomach had been cut open and his intestines had started to spill out. She hated Haymitch, I knew, because her best friend had been reaped with him and he had come home.

"Can I see the scar?" I asked in a small voice. I was afraid to look at his face when I asked, but I looked anyway. It was pale and pained.

"Yes." Slowly he pulled up his shirt and showed me the long, thick scar. I slowly reached out and ran my fingers over it, feeling its rough texture. Haymitch snatched my hand in his, holding me tightly in his grasp. I freeze. He might be a drunk, but his grip was strong. He could break my wrist if he wanted to. I feel the fear swim through my veins as he held my hand still. Then he did something totally unexpected. He raised my hand to his lips and kissed it.

"You are the only woman who has seen that scar and not been disgusted." He said, his voice hoarse.

_Woman._ I was still a girl. Yet when Haymitch's lips touched my flesh something flashed through me like I had never felt. Of course I knew of sex. The girls of the Seam aren't like I am. Many of them have very young "sisters" or "brothers" after being hidden in their house for several months. I probably knew more about it than most, my mother usually looking after these girls once they gave birth.

The look on Haymitch's face had changed. His eyes had glazed over and he was breathing faster. There was something else too. Confusion.

I sit up and try and laugh it away. "With everyone I have seen brought home to my mother. Its interesting to see someone who once wasn't whole, put together again."

"Put back together..." Haymitch tested the words in his mouth. Then in what seemed like the blink of an eye his lips were on mine, his tongue stroking my lips. This was not something I had ever expected Haymitch to do. I froze for a moment, not knowing what to do. Finally I succumbed to the kiss. I parted my lips letting Haymitch's tongue dance in my mouth, tentatively touching it with my own.

His age didn't bother me. So many young girls, especially from the Seam were involved with older men. Parents encouraged their daughters to date men older than them because they will give a more relaxed home to their daughters if they married. I could also almost see the repulsion my mother would feel from my older man being Haymitch. I pulled away slowly and opened my eyes. I hadn't realized they were closed.

"Katniss... I'm sorry. That was even more irresponsible than usual for me." Haymitch drew away, confused and dazed.

I held a finger to his lips and smiled shaking my head. I was quiet for a while, a million thoughts running through my head. I realized how much like Haymitch I was myself. How I was going to be at most, just as messed up as he was. He seemed perfect.

I leaned forward and this time I kissed him.

The victory tour was turning out to be almost bearable.


End file.
